Clothes Horse Fodder Follow-up

About a week and a half ago, I mentioned a recent trip to Orange Walk and how I came home with more fodder for the clothes horse (me). Here are some shots of my recent loot:



A 100% cotton madras skirt. I love the colors and the retro look of the madras.

 

Lined cotton, spaghetti strap top with beading. Normally, I'm not a sparkly/bling wearing kind of girl, but the beads are small and add just the right amount of interest to what would otherwise be a rather ordinary top. This is a great piece to provide some girly attitude to jeans, shorts, or a skirt.

 

 

Dark gray/white seersucker cropped pants. These are sooooo comfy and it helps that there's a little bit of stretch to the fabric. I could wear these every single day.

 

 

The water colors are what drew my eye to this top. It's tunic length, hitting just about at the hips, ties in the back, and has split cap sleeves. This is another piece that I know will get a lot of wear.

 

This is a sleeveless wrap dress. The photo really doesn't highlight the colors very well, but it has a silver, tan, and light tan leaf design on a black background. I love this jersey type material, because no matter what you do to it, there are no wrinkles. I have a pair of spike heeled sandals that would look amazing with this dress, but being a klutz, I fear a twisted ankle in the offing. Maybe I'll just stick with wearing flats.

White cotton cropped cargo pants. Don't they look comfy and cute? But speaking of being a klutz, I will need to work up the courage to wear these. I can count on one hand, with fingers left over, how many times I've purchased a white pair of pants, skirt, or shorts. Experience has shown that if there is any substance that can cause a stain, it will find me and the white fabric. But maybe I'll have better luck this time around.

 

 

Flats from Land's End. As much as I love all of my cute sandals and flip flops, there are days that a girl needs something other than cute shoes. You only need to have mud squish between your toes a time or two when you accidentally step into a puddle to learn a lesson. I think of these as my "common sense" shoes -- functional, covered toes to prevent mud squished toes, but still kinda' cute.

 

 

And here's the very best part: the total for all this (including a pair of khaki cropped pants that aren't pictured because I didn't get around to ironing them when I took the rest of these photos) was $47BZD or $23.50USD. Heck, even if I should end up spilling ketchup or who-knows-what on those white cargo pants, at five bucks I'm not going to get too wigged out about it. Gosh, you just have to love thrift stores.



Feeding a Clothes Horse

When it comes to buying clothes, I’m not a shop-‘til-you-drop kinda’ girl. Matter of fact, when I was working, I bought most of my clothes online. It was a great time saver, and I could look forward to having presents on my doorstep after long days at the office.

After I stopped working, my wardrobe needs changed dramatically. There were few occasions that I needed to strap on stiletto heels and put together a full suit ensemble. And when we moved here? Well my “uniform” is generally a pair of shorts, T-shirt, and flip-flops.

But none of this means I don’t care about clothes (my over-stuffed dresser drawers are testaments to that) or that I don’t get the urge from time to time to remind myself what it means to get girlie. The challenge becomes where to buy the clothes. It’s not like we have big department stores here in Corozal.

Then I was introduced to The American Store in Orange Walk. This place is a bonanza for finding gently-used clothing, some by designer brands. Here’s a sample of some of my purchases:



Lined cotton skirt. During this particular shopping spree, I also found a red, cotton halter that exactly matches the color in the skirt.

 

Halter top by Ann Taylor - so comfy that I would wear it every single day

 

Floral cotton sun dress -- I love this. It's comfy, cool, and can be dressed up or down (with me it's mostly down)

Mesh tunic from White House/Black Market. This is one of those tops that seems to go with everything, including skinny jeans, casual skirts, and even shorts.

 

Embroidered linen skirt by Ann Taylor. The drape to this skirt is fun, providing just enough twirl, should you be a twirly type of girl (which I can sometimes be when my seven-year old self kicks in).

 

100% silk top by Alice & Trixie. This is just fun -- lots of colors and patterns

And get this: not one of these items cost more than $5 BZD. That’s $2.50 USD!!!! I kid you not. Seriously, who could pass these up?

And the thing is that I was never a big thrift shop shopper until we moved to Western North Carolina. There they have some amazing stores and my mother-in-law, always the fashion plate, clued me in on what treasures can be had for a fraction of the cost.

Having now discovered this place in Orange Walk, I duck in there whenever we happen to be in the area. Matter of fact, I’ll be there next week and can’t wait to see what the next items will be that I didn't know I couldn't live without. At this rate, our next home remodeling project may need to be expanding the closets.